Words and Numbers

Context: An analysis of the positives and negatives of the recently released National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. 

Pleasing aspects of NEP:

• Principles it seeks to uphold: multidisciplinarity, flexibility, and “easier” examinations — deserve unstinting support.
• Overcoming Previously Controversial Decisions: It has suggested that 4-year undergraduate education becomes the norm.
• Boost to vernaculars: Use of vernaculars in early education will ease learning for poor student as they often struggle to learn English.
• Avoiding Imposition of Language: There will be no attempt to impose any language (Hindi) on students.
• Prioritizing early childhood education: to achieve universal foundational numeracy and literacy.

• A vast proportion of nominally educated Indians are functionally illiterate and innumerate.

• Indian students leave primary school with a Math knowledge that is 2.5 years behind for their age.
• But the bottom third are doubly troubled; essentially making no progress at all.

• The NEP’s extension backward ofthe10+2 system into 5+3+3+4 is thus vital.

• Incorporates sports and vocational courses as part of the school curriculum.

• Helps in bridging the gaps between intelligence and education.
• Liberates education from the dark ages of colonialism.

• Makes teachers central to the transformative agenda: There will be no attempt to impose any language (Hindi) on students.
• Prioritizing early childhood education: to achieve universal foundational numeracy and literacy.

Negative aspects of NEP

• Regulatory Imposition of Ideology: The Proposed National Research Fund might turn into a method for the imposition of ideological hobby-horses of one kind or another.

• Strong Recommendation of Regional Language or Mother Tongue:

• Empirical evidence to the fact that early education in mother tongue is important for later education is only suggestive but not conclusive.
• “Regional language” is not necessarily the same as the “mother tongue” in country as diverse as India.

• For E.g. in multi-ethnic and non- Hindi speaking metropolitan cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, or Bengaluru.
• Increased Cognitive load on certain sections of students For E.g. a Tamil child in Mumbai may be expected to know Tamil, Marathi, Hindi, and English.

• Neglect of English: The NEP needed to take a stronger stand on the propagation of English.

• The differentiation between those who receive a government school education and those who can afford a private school will only grow. 
• Parents want more English education, and employers want more English education.
• English education breaks class barriers and assures greater equality of opportunity.

• Excessive focus of literacy on primary education: Entire education policy is designed on the assumption that we are turning out primary school students who are literate and numerate.
• Not Realistic: The perfection of the policy can be elusive especially in the light of the broken public delivery system.

• Out of 1.4 million teachers in colleges and universities, about 130,000 are ghost teachers.

• Abysmal standard of learning as portrayed by the Annual Status of Education Report. 

• Teacher Absenteeism.

Way Forward:

• Construct a National Numeracy Mission: Focus has to be on universal literacy and numeracy.
• Union can step in on a state or concurrent subject, and provide financing for a cadre of special remedial tutors for the bottom third.
• Remove the requirement of degrees for employment: Young should be gainfully employed in whatever they love to learn, instead of wasting their life in pursuit of degrees.

Conclusion: 

• India’s education policy needs to be both more & less ambitious.
• Let perfection be the inspiration for this transformative project and not the metric to measure success.